Explore Chapter 2 of "Divorce" with the original Chinese text, English translation, detailed Chinese vocabulary explanations, and audio of the Chinese original. Listen and improve your reading skills.
"Your second brother," she gasped, "has been arrested by the police! What in the world are we to do?" and a fresh torrent of tears followed.
"The Zhang family from Bitterwater Well had diphtheria, and he treated them-" she gasped again, "and they died. He thought it was-I don't know how he treated them. Anyway, he made a mistake. What shall we do? What if the police execute him?" and her tears became a veritable flood.
"I can't eat, Elder Brother! My heart is stuck in my throat! How can I eat?" Second Sister turned to her sister-in-law. "Look, Sister-in-law, your second brother has been arrested by the police!"
"Oh!" Sister-in-law Zhang exclaimed, as if it were absolutely inconceivable that the police could arrest Second Brother. "Oh! How did this happen? When was he taken? How? Why?"
"Yes! He pulled some strings and passed! Ever since he hung out his shingle, I've been on pins and needles, afraid something would go wrong." Though anxious, Second Sister hadn't forgotten her Beiping turn of phrase. "No matter what the illness, he always prescribes two liang of gypsum. Is that any way to practice? This time, in a fit of enthusiasm, he prescribed half a jin. Must have gone too far. I'm always telling him to use less gypsum and more honeysuckle. But you know his temper-he never listens!"
"Alright, Second Sister, tomorrow at first light I'll go find Wang Bogao! With him, everything can be arranged! I, as your matchmaker, won't be slipshod about my duty!" Elder Brother Zhang gave his assurance. "If we could pull strings to get him licensed, we can pull strings to get him released."
"That would be wonderful! I thank you and Sister-in-law in advance." Second Sister's eyes were almost completely dry now. "But after he's out, can he still practice? If I keep at him not to use so much gypsum, maybe he won't get into trouble again!"
"That's for later, we'll discuss it then! Alright, you leave it to me! Let Sister-in-law fix you a bite!"
Sister-in-law Zhang knew that once someone felt they had solid ground under their feet, they inevitably needed to eat something. "Come, Second Sister, let's go to the kitchen. We can chat while I fix a little something."
Second Sister's heart eased, and her stomach suddenly felt empty. Seizing the opportunity, she stepped down from the raised platform. "Well, Elder Brother, I'll trouble you greatly then. I'll go have a chat with Sister-in-law!" She didn't look at Old Li, but her words were clearly meant for him: "You just make yourself comfortable here!"
Old Li lost the thread of the conversation, his mind turning to other things. He didn't know whether to admire Elder Brother Zhang or to detest him. In terms of eagerness to help others, Elder Brother Zhang certainly had his merits. But his methods were truly detestable. Yet, in this kind of society, he reflected, such detestable methods might well be the best available. This approach of temporarily smoothing things over-however well-intentioned-seemed only to perpetuate the darkness, making everyone content to live within it. If a little light did occasionally appear, people would probably shut their eyes, unable to bear the glare!
Elder Brother Zhang laughed. "Old Li, did you see that young wife? Before she was married, she was like a gourd with its mouth sealed, couldn't utter a coherent sentence. Look at her now, chattering away like a little wooden clapper! Married less than a year, less than a year! So you see what marriage-" He didn't finish, as if leaving the praise of matrimony for Old Li to voice.
Seeing Old Li silent, Elder Brother Zhang thought he was brooding over his own troubles. "Old Li, out with it!"
Old Li was at a loss. What on earth did Elder Brother Zhang mean by "social phenomena," "darkness," "depression"? For all he knew, Zhang's "darkness" might simply mean "overcast weather." "What you say is all common-" Old Li, thinking aloud, inadvertently spoke the words, breaking into a sweat even on his forehead!
Old Li was silent for a long moment, thinking: Common sense is like culture-that thick-skinned thing called culture-just a few of its tiny pores! Culture can't survive on the function of one or two pores! What use are a few more pores to a man dying of consumption? But this was not the right thing to say to Elder Brother Zhang! His entire universe was this courtyard; his life was just making a noisy fuss, a commotion without any meaning. Still, he wasn't a bad man-a little bug in the darkness, but one that didn't bite! With this thought, Old Li surrendered. If he didn't engage Elder Brother Zhang in conversation, it seemed almost ungrateful for that exquisitely prepared Mongolian hot pot. Common sense was important, he smiled inwardly. To stand up and leave after eating the mutton would show a lack of it. But to discard all sincerity for the sake of placating common sense, perhaps… Oh, but Elder Brother Zhang was waiting for him to speak!
Old Li continued, head still bowed. "I don't want to solve a marital problem. Why waste time on something that shouldn't exist at all?"
"Communist!" Elder Brother Zhang laughed, though inwardly he was rather perturbed. In his mind, communism led to "communal wives," and communal wives meant no need for matchmakers. People like that ought to be shot.
"This has nothing to do with communism!" Old Li still spoke slowly, but with increased force. "I'm not seeking to taste the so-called flavor of love. What I'm pursuing is a kind of… poetic sentiment. Family, society, country, the world-they are all solid earth, none possess that poetic sentiment. Most women-married or unmarried-are ordinary, perhaps even more ordinary than men. What I want-if only to see one-is a woman not yet corrupted by practicality, passionate as a poem, joyful as music, pure as an angel. I suppose I am a little mad. This madness consists of: knowing myself yet not daring to be romantic, yet wishing for a dream; seeing the darkness of society yet hoping for immediate peace; knowing the predestination of life yet imagining an eternal paradise; forbidding myself superstition yet desiring a touch of mystery. My madness is woven from these indescribable threads. Or perhaps you think this is all nonsense?"
"Very interesting, extremely interesting!" Elder Brother Zhang watched the blue smoke rings above his head, practicing judging the quality of his tobacco by their shade. "However, poetry or mystery, if we could start with more immediate matters, there's no harm in doing a few practical things first. Mystery is fascinating, I must say. In my spare time I love nothing better than reading those swordsman novels, full of mystery! *The Burning of the Red Lotus Monastery*! But hoping for swordsmen and not getting any is worse than useless; better to give a beggar a dime-if you have spare change. Poetry, I know a bit about that too. *A Thousand Poems*, *The Three Hundred Tang Poems*, read them as a boy. But poetry never made anyone rich, nor made me any smarter. I think writing smooth, straightforward little essays is far more useful. You can't very well write a letter home in verse, can you? Ah, to speak plainly, you are unwilling to solve your problems, not incapable. So you set practical matters aside and indulge in wild fancies in the dead of night. That woman in your mind-"
"Whatever she is. Hmph! In my view, poetic sentiment is also a woman, and a woman is just a woman. You can't send an eight-man sedan chair to her family to fetch poetic sentiment home. To put it bluntly, Old Li, these wild fancies of yours are dangerous! You think it's lofty, but it's actually not resolute. Why not resolute? Having problems but not wanting to solve them, playing with poetic sentiment in the middle of the night-what nonsense! Buck up, solve the problems! When facts are to your liking, you're guaranteed to stop indulging in mysticism and start pursuing-to use your new term-Mongolian hot pot instead! Ha ha ha!"
"Of course not!" Elder Brother Zhang's left eye widened. "Better to demolish seven temples than break up one marriage! Besides, you've been married for years now. One night as husband and wife creates a bond for a hundred days! Divorce? What an idea!"
"I won't say everything will be perfect, but it'll be much better than your current state of getting nothing done!" Elder Brother Zhang really felt like giving himself a round of applause. "If there are things she doesn't understand, teach her. Bound feet? Let them out. Whether to cut her hair or not hardly seems a pressing issue. Teaching your own wife yourself has a meaning all its own."
"So marriage is just like opening a school, Elder Brother Zhang?" Old Li wanted to laugh but didn't.
"Hmph, that's exactly what it is!" Elder Brother Zhang was not to be outdone. "Put 'her' aside for a moment. Don't you have two children? Children need educating too! If you don't feel like dealing with her, play with the kids, teach them a few characters: 'man,' 'mountain,' 'water,' 'field.' That can be interesting too! You do love your children, don't you?"
"Old Li, all you need to do is make one trip to the countryside. Leave the rest to me! Renting a place, getting furniture-I'll handle it all. If you say it's inconvenient to spend too much, we have a simple method: I'll lend you some basic furniture to start. If she really proves hopeless, just send her back, and I'll take the things back. No question of wasting money. I don't think she'll be that impossible to mold. No young woman is unwilling to be with her husband. Once she's here, if you say east, she won't say west. But to keep things flexible, tell her first it's just a visit to Beiping for a few days. If it becomes necessary later, you can send her back. Think long-term, but speak tactfully. Listen to your Elder Brother Zhang, Old Li! I've arranged many matches. I know there's no woman who cannot be molded. Besides, you have children. Children are like living immortals, more marvelous than all your poetic sentiment. Even a child's crying can sound sweet to a father's ears; having a sick child at home brings more warmth to the heart than being a lonely old bachelor. So, what do you plan to buy? Here, make a list. I'll advance you the money."
Old Li knew Elder Brother Zhang's power all too well. If he himself named items to buy, it would mean complete surrender. If he said nothing, Zhang would likely show up tomorrow with a cartload of purchases anyway. And if he refused the cartload, Zhang was perfectly capable of going down to the countryside himself to fetch Mrs. Li. Elder Brother Zhang's enthusiasm was boundless, his ability limitless. Once you've eaten his Mongolian hot pot, if he told you to marry a yellow cow, you'd have to go along with it!
Old Li felt he had fallen from the moon onto a muddy country road. To descend from poetic sentiment to fetching his family was like slapping his own face! And even regarding fetching the family, there were countless practical problems. But to raise those for discussion would clearly mean canceling even the "I'll think it over again."
Yet, from another angle-and in his anxiety Old Li was forced to consider other angles-perhaps life was just like this: with more experience came less fantasy, balancing actual pleasures against actual pains. Children, yes… Elder Brother Zhang knew where the soft spot was. Old Li did sometimes yearn to stroke his children's little hands, to kiss their warm, plump cheeks. Children, children somehow elevated the dignity of womanhood.
Had Old Li been in the kitchen, he would never have surrendered, no matter what. Not that the kitchen wasn't lively. Sister-in-law Zhang and Second Sister had made their discussion of household affairs seem extraordinarily complex and fascinating. Second Uncle Ding was there too, helping Second Sister finish off the remaining, not-so-choice slices of mutton. He didn't say a word, but he applied himself to the eating with a kind of heroic dedication.
Second Uncle Ding's status was hard to define. He wasn't a servant, but when Mr. and Mrs. Zhang went out, he was in charge of minding the house and keeping the stove going. In Elder Brother Zhang's eyes, he was an "exception"-a man with no family and no trade, living off relatives. But from the Zhang family's point of view, Second Uncle Ding was still indispensable! Not wanting to hire proper servants, yet sometimes needing to go out separately, made it necessary to have someone who ate for free but would take responsibility. From Second Uncle Ding's perspective, if Elder Brother Zhang didn't take him in, he might still get by, but not with any certainty-though he didn't seem overly worried about it either.
Second Uncle Ding ate for free at the Zhangs', and in turn, others ate for free off him-a flock of little yellow birds. His birds didn't need to be taken for walks; a little millet seemed to satisfy them completely. When the Zhangs were out, he would stroll around the courtyard with them-all housed in one large cage. In the avian world, they too were probably "exceptions": bald-tailed, bleary-eyed, missing a patch of feathers on the neck, broken-winged-each with some distinguishing flaw, and these very flaws had earned them a place only under Second Uncle Ding's care.
After his meal, Second Uncle Ding returned to his own room to chat with his birds. Flowery Monk, Winged Tiger, Leopard Head… he gave each a vivid name based on its particular flaw. Casting himself in the role of the Timely Rain Song Jiang, his small room often hosted a gathering of heroes.
"Is Xiuzhen still living at the school?" Second Sister asked while wiping chopsticks. Xiuzhen was Sister-in-law Zhang's daughter.
"That's what people say, Second Sister, but every family has its own troubles. For all your Elder Brother's seeming shrewdness, it's really all-just between us sisters-all bluster! He can't control his son. He can't control his daughter. All day long it's entertaining friends and relatives. I'm the bitter core of it all. I do the shopping, I do the cooking. The son's never home, the daughter lives at school. Everything falls on my shoulders. I'm like the family's head drudge, and it's taken for granted! Yes, we have food, drink, clothes to wear. But who knows I'm worse off than a maid?" Sister-in-law Zhang still wore a smile, but red spots appeared on her cheeks. "A maid can shift her duties, rest when she's tired. But me? All the affairs of this household are mine! From morning till night, my hands and feet never know a moment's rest! And as for your Elder Brother, that dog's temper of his comes on whenever it pleases! Outside, he's gentler than the Goddess of Children. At home, all the anger from God-knows-where gets vented on me!" She heaved a long sigh. "But then again, what can you expect? We're women, aren't we? Women are born unlucky, that's all there is to it! All the good things go to the men, all the bad things fall to us old hens. That's our lot!" Shifting from pessimism to resignation, Sister-in-law Zhang managed a wan smile.
"You really have it hard, Sister-in-law. I often say, people like you are rare. Ready to wash, ready to cook, running east and west to buy things-you can do it all-"
"Second Sister, don't say that. Your own household affairs aren't something any half-blind fool could manage either." Sister-in-law Zhang felt she had to return the compliment. "Does Second Brother bring in a few dozen dollars a month?"
"Who can say for sure! Most friends and relatives don't pay. At festivals or New Year they might send some tea or the like. We often have more tea at home than flour! But you can't live on tea alone! Better not to be a doctor. Cure someone, and you can't be sure they'll pay. Make a mistake, and-smash! Your signboard is ruined! I'm on tenterhooks all day. Sometimes I really feel it hardly matters whether I'm alive or dead." Second Sister also heaved a long sigh. "The only ones who seem to have any fun are those new-style girls and young wives. All day long they gad about, never touch a needle or thread, all dolled up like peacocks."
"Hmph!" Sister-in-law Zhang took over. "Gad about by day, get a beating at night-plenty of that! A woman is better off not marrying at all-"
Second Sister chimed in again, "But then the old maids get all green-eyed watching the bridal sedan chairs go by!"
"Ah!" The two women sighed in unison. The discussion was hard to continue for the moment. Second Sister warmed her hands over the stove.
After a long pause, Second Sister broke the silence. "Sister-in-law, Tianzhen still isn't engaged, is he?"
"That old thing," Sister-in-law Zhang tilted her head toward the study, "spends all day arranging matches for other people's children, but pays no mind to his own."
"But you have to admit, educated youngsters these days are truly hard to manage. They're not simple old sticks like us, are they?"
"I don't believe a father can't control his own son, I simply don't believe it!" Sister-in-law Zhang was genuinely angry now. "Second Sister, you've probably seen her, the eldest daughter of the Qi family on Taipusi Street. Pretty as a picture, fine needlework, literate, not a wild thing. The moment I brought her up-my goodness! He had a mouthful of objections! 'They're in trade,' he says, 'the girl's face is full of freckles!' What girl doesn't have a few freckles? Slap on a thick layer of powder and they're all covered! I want a person for a daughter-in-law, who cares about freckles? Even foreign girls' faces aren't all flawless white! I mention it once, he rebuts once. And now? She's gone and married a regiment commander, goes around all day in a car, honk-honking! So what if she has freckles? She still gets to ride in a car!"
Seizing the moment while Sister-in-law caught her breath, Second Sister added, "'I, for one, don't have many freckles,' but the other day I nearly got run over by a car."
"He let that Qi girl slip by, and then brought up a Miss Wang. A real flighty piece, I hear she hangs around Dong'an Market all day, her hair permed like a frizzly chicken, thinks it's fashionable not to wear socks in summer. I heard that and said, no discussion needed, we don't want her! I won't have a frizzly chicken in this house, I won't! Your Elder Brother had plenty to say then too. Said her family had money and influence, with this match settled, Tianzhen wouldn't have to worry about a job after graduation. But then Tianzhen came home, said a few words to his father, and the whole matter was dropped flat, never mentioned again."
"All muddle-headed talk. He said he wouldn't get engaged until after graduation, and that if he did get engaged, his father needn't bother himself-"
"A free-choice marriage!" Second Sister seemed better than Sister-in-law at getting to the heart of the matter.
"Exactly! Free, everything's free, except the mother isn't free! Day in, day out, year in, year out-cooking, washing clothes, wiping tables and benches! That old thing, hearing his son out, didn't utter a peep, just sat there puffing on his pipe, *pak-pak-pak*, as if he were the one living off his son, not the son off him. I was furious. Not that I wanted that frizzly chicken, mind you. I was furious that the son is always free, while the mother never gets to have a daughter-in-law to order about. Well, I didn't say a word. I stood up and went back to my娘家. Thought to myself, you want freedom? This old lady is going to take a few days off too! No one to cook? Serves you right!" With her "serves you right," Sister-in-law Zhang nearly shook loose the small bun at the back of her head.
But Sister-in-law Zhang offered another wan smile. "Though it's not right to say so, I only stayed away half a day. In the end, I couldn't bear to leave this ramshackle home. Worried the fire would go out, worried Second Uncle Ding would waste firewood… Ai! Your own home is like your own child. However bad it is, you can't bear to leave it, not for a single day. I don't have the heart for it. Besides, an old married woman like me, going back to her娘家 isn't exactly a welcome sight either."
"That little hussy! She's the worst of all! In high school now, weeping and wailing that she had to move into the school dormitory. Her head permed up like a frizzly chicken too! But… that little silhouette of hers, ai, is really pretty! A little apple face, with a cloud of black hair piled on top. But then again, the new styles can look good too, if you're pretty enough. Her father doesn't control her, how can I? She's eighteen or nineteen, really should be thinking of a match, but your Elder Brother won't let go. Naturally, who doesn't love their own daughter, fresh as a flower? But… ai! No need to say more. My palms are always clammy with cold sweat! Only when she comes home do I feel at ease, like a stone has dropped from my heart. But the moment she's back, it's either buying silk stockings or throwing a tantrum for leather shoes. One word of refusal, and her eyebrows shoot up a foot high! Talk about bearing and raising children-it breaks an old woman's heart, and they haven't the faintest idea."
"But if it weren't for the children, what would we be striving for all this time?" Second Sister spoke a profoundly wise truth.
Back at his lodging, Old Li lay down on the bed without even taking off his overcoat. Pillowing his head on his hands, he stared blankly at the ceiling.
Poetic sentiment or practicality, he had been defeated by Elder Brother Zhang. The reason for his defeat lay not in the realm of ideas, nor in eloquence, but in his own lack of self-knowledge. This made him feel utterly worthless and insignificant! He ought to be a philosopher, ought to be a revolutionary, yet he was adrift and uncertain. He ought not to be a petty official, ought not to be a dutiful family man, yet he was adrift and uncertain. Ultimately-oh, there was no ultimately! Everything was adrift and uncertain.
This perhaps wasn't the most crucial question, yet it was the only one concrete enough to grasp. He felt miserable, yet this misery had no definite cause. He dared not toy again with those boundless ideals; ideals made him miserable with their vagueness, like an ever-shifting, perpetually gloomy dream.
Divorce was impossible, he told himself. His parents would never allow it; how could he wound their hearts? But where in the world was there any completely unselfish happiness, unless the world were remade entirely? How many centuries lay between the ethical concepts of the petty bourgeoisie and the realization of an earthly paradise? Old Li interrogated himself: Where do you stand? Adrift!
She hadn't bound her own feet. The green jackets weren't her invention. Don't blame her, not in the least. But then, should he blame himself? Was it better to pity her, or to pity himself? Hmph! Feelings ought not to walk forever under the umbrella of reason, shut off from the warm sunlight! Adrift!
He picked up a book. He read for a long time without knowing which book it was. Go take a bath? Buy some fruit? Borrow a copy of *Dagong Bao*? He didn't move. He looked at the book again; the words seemed blurred, their meaning elusive.
She couldn't be reformed. If reformation were possible, he would have reformed himself long ago. Before him stood a wall. Push it open, and beyond lay wilderness, mountains and rivers, vast and magnificent. He dared not push, fearing the untasted air beyond might be poisonous. Behind him stood another wall. Push it open, and there lay bed curtains, tables, chairs, stove fire, tea steam. He dared not push, fearing the foul, stagnant air within might be poisonous. Stand here, then. Between two walls stood a man in a dream.
Even if the luck of the peach blossom came his way, even if fortune landed in his lap like a fat pig, he still couldn't bear to part with those two children. Old Li told himself.
She? Old Li closed his eyes. She seemed only the children's mother. How did she laugh? He couldn't recall. She could cook, she could endure hardship-
His every thought, his every action, came with a footnote: Don't fall behind the times! But at the same time he asked himself: Is this right? What was the standard for right and wrong? Wasn't it still those musty 'The Master said...' and 'The Book of Songs says...'? His actions-those in accord with his conscience-had to apologize to the New Thought. His thoughts-those in step with the times-had to apologize to that ghostly shadow. Life was split in two, just like his wife's feet, bound and then unbound.